Iran reported 258 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Sunday, the highest daily toll since early December. That brings the total number of fatalities from the coronavirus to 64,490 in Iran, the worst-hit country in the Middle East. -Reuters 4/12/21

Iran hit a new coronavirus infection record on Thursday for the third straight day, reporting 22,586 new cases as the country grapples with a severe spike following the Persian New Year holiday. The new case count pushes Iran's total during the pandemic over 2 million, including 63,884 deaths after health authorities reported 185 new daily fatalities due to COVID-19. -AP 4/8/21

Iran has set a new daily record for new coronavirus infections amid a surge of cases following the Norouz holiday. The Health Ministry said on April 7 that in the previous 24 hours, 20,954 new cases had been reported, breaking the record set a day earlier of 17,430 infections. 4/7/21

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect refugees and host communities in the Islamic Republic of Iran, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is ensuring that another 20,000 refugees can access the country's national health insurance scheme, taking the numbers assisted with health insurance to 120,000. -Reliefweb 4/6/21

Some 700,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine have been delivered to Iran as part of its purchase of millions of doses through the World Health Organization's COVAX initiative. As confirmed by an Iranian official and the United Nations' UNICEF, which handled delivery, the first shipment landed in Tehran's Imam Khomeini Airport Monday night and included 700,800 doses of the vaccine. -Al Jazeera 4/6/21

To prevent the spread of coronavirus, and by order of Coronavirus Prevention and Combat Headquarters, authorities closed all parks and public places in Iran on April 2 and imposed severe penalties for picnicking. However, desite the official orders and warnings, Iranians across the country gathered outdoors on Friday to celebrate Sizdah-Bedar, the traditional Persian festival of nature. 4/2/21

Iran said on Tuesday a fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic had taken hold in western and central areas of the country, triggered by widespread travel and celebrations during the current Iranian New Year holidays. "A fourth coronavirus wave has definitely begun in many parts of the west and centre of the country and is advancing towards the east," Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari told state television. -Reuters 3/31/21

Iranian authorities yesterday announced that they have not been able to secure the nearly three million doses of the Russian-made COVID-19 vaccines before the Persian New Year, Nowruz, as promised. "We have not been able to fulfil our promise to secure 2.8 million doses of coronavirus vaccine by March 21," Ministry of Health spokesman, Kianush Jahanpour, said. -Middle East Monitor 3/26/21

Younan Nowzaradan, popularly known as Dr. Now, is a famous Iranian-American surgeon, TV star, and author of books about weight loss. Vascular surgery and bariatric surgery are where he specializes in. He became very popular in the United States after the hit TV show "My 600-lb life", where he helped morbidly obese people to lose enough weight to go to surgery. 3/24/21

Iran is boasting that its ability to make coronavirus vaccines exemplifies its self-sufficiency, with one top official comparing the feat to its ability to build missiles. "Just as we were forced to manufacture missiles ourselves, we produced a coronavirus vaccine," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on March 15, the semiofficial news agency ISNA reported. -Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE 3/17/21

Iran's campaign to inoculate its population against the coronavirus and promote itself as an emerging vaccine manufacturer inched on as health authorities announced Tuesday that the country's third homegrown vaccine has reached the phase of clinical trials. Details about its production, however, remained slim. -AP 3/16/21

The COVID-19 pandemic has told us something, in awesomely lethal fashion, about where the greatest threats to the physical well-being of Americans lie. At last count, the number of Americans who have died from the disease exceeds by tens of thousands the 508,104 U.S. deaths in all U.S. wars, from all causes, since the beginning of World War II. The virus has been far deadlier than the guns of foreigners. -Paul R. Pillar, Responsible Statecraft 3/15/21

Iran has received a shipment of 150,000 doses of an Indian Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin, local media reported Thursday, as the Islamic republic combats the Middle East's deadliest outbreak of the illness. "The coronavirus vaccine shipment from India arrived at (Tehran's) Imam Khomeini airport containing 150,000 doses," deputy customs chief Mehrdad Jamal Arvanaghi told ISNA news agency. -AFP 3/11/21

Yann Le Cam, the chief executive officer of the European Organization for Rare Diseases (EURORDIS), has praised Iran for preparing a national document on rare diseases, saying that it will change the lives of one million rare disease patients in the country. In a video message on the occasion of the International Day of Rare Diseases, Le Cam said that "I would like to congratulate Iran on the development of the first national document on rare diseases. 3/4/21

A COVID-19 rapid testing program is being implemented across the city of Ahvaz, southwestern Khuzestan province, as a new wave of the virus has pushed the city into a high-risk red zone. Teams of emergency medical services are settled in crowded parts of the city to rapidly identify those individuals who are suspicious of being infected with the disease. 3/1/21

Tests performed on volunteers who received the Iranian-made COVID-19 vaccine showed that the immunogenicity of "COVIRAN BAREKAT" is about 90 percent. COVIRAN BAREKAT, the first coronavirus vaccine made by Iranian researchers of the Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam, was unveiled and injected into three volunteers during a ceremony on December 29, 2020. -Tehran Times 2/22/21

Iran is seeing an exodus of its healthcare professionals, including doctors and nurses, who have chosen to take up jobs abroad rather than stay home amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Over the past 10 months, more than 3,000 healthcare workers have reportedly emigrated from Iran, according to figures released by the Medical Council of Iran, a non-governmental organisation and the main national regulatory body for medical professionals. -MEE 2/17/21

The Iranian health minister has warned about a fourth COVID-19 surge in Iran due to the spread of a mutated virus in his country. Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rohani has told state television that "alarm bells were ringing for a fourth coronavirus wave" as at least nine cities and towns in southwestern Iran were declared high-risk "red" zones after a rise in cases on February 12. 2/15/21

he novel coronavirus has led to the death of a pregnant Iranian nurse before she delivered her baby. The devoted nurse left her infant alone before savouring the taste of being a mother, said the Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei in a note marking the death of Mahshid Goodarz, the pregnant nurse who worked at Tehran's Loqman Hospital. 2/15/21

An encyclopedia of herbs and medicinal plants endemic to Iran was unveiled in a ceremony on Wednesday. In this line, data related to 7,400 different plants in the fields of botany and ecology, pharmaceutical plants, and edible plants have been gathered in the encyclopedia along with some 9,000 pictures, ISNA reported. 2/11/21

With huge national fanfare, Iran rolled out its Covid-19 vaccine campaign with a television broadcast of the health minister's son receiving Russia's Sputnik V jab. "My father would not have let me have this vaccine if there was any problem with it," said Parsa Namaki, the son of health minister Saeed Namaki and a student in Iran's top engineering school. "I insisted," he added, "in case it can have any impact to help build public trust." -Najmeh Bozorgmehr, Financial Times 2/11/21

Iran has kicked off its vaccination campaign against COVID-19 using the Russian-developed Sputnik V vaccine. "The first person to receive the Russian Sputnik vaccine is my own child," Health Minister Saeed Namaki said at a ceremony at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Hospital, broadcast live on television on February 8. 2/9/21

The first batch of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine has arrived in Iran as the country prepares to launch a COVID-19 inoculation campaign aimed at curbing the usage of Western medicines. The state news agency IRNA showed video of the vaccine delivery being transferred off a Mahan Airline flight at Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran on February 4. 2/5/21

ran will receive more than 4 million doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 shot from mid-February under the COVAX vaccine distribution scheme, the health minister said on Wednesday. "The AstraZeneca company has announced that it will start delivering 4.2 million doses of coronavirus vaccine to Iran in February in the form of COVAX scheme," Saeed Namaki told state TV, without referring to the Anglo-Swedish company's British ties. -Reuters 2/4/21

Iran's president is hopeful that his country's vaccination drive will kick off in the coming weeks despite growing criticism from the Iranian medical community against the Russian vaccine. -Al Monitor 2/3/21

development of cancer caregivers and specialists, increasing the number of service providers, and implementation of early diagnosis programs, along with support by NGOs and charities are the major steps Iran has taken in the fight against cancer. Although the country is far from the ideal situation, the development trend has been appropriate, Ali Ghanbari-Motlagh, head of the cancer prevention department of the Ministry of Health said. -Faranak Bakhtiari, Tehran Times 2/3/21

Iran urged U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday to lift sanctions which it said were hampering Tehran's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Tehran also said it had approved Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine for domestic use, and that it was trying to buy vaccines from AstraZeneca and other companies. -Reuters 1/26/21

When Iran's supreme leader banned U.S. and other Western-made COVID-19 vaccines this month, he did so even as his country's pandemic death toll nears 60,000 and its total caseload surpasses 1.3 million, making it one of the Middle East's worst-hit country and the 16th-most afflicted nation in the world. Khamenei's decision has sparked outrage, with a group of opposition politicians and activists insisting that a decision on the quality of available vaccines "should be the sole domain of the country's experts" -Los Angeles Times 1/21/21

The second homegrown COVID-19 vaccine developed and proposed by the Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute has been approved to begin a clinical trial. The clinical trial protocol has been approved by both the Food and Drug Administration and the National Committee for Ethics in Biomedical Research. 1/20/21

The Iranian Health Ministry has confirmed 5,806 COVID-19 infections and 83 deaths due to respiratory disease in the past 24 hours. Health Ministry Spokesperson Sima Lari made the announcement on Monday, saying that the total coronavirus cases in the country have so far reached 1,336,217 with the death toll standing at 56,886. 1/18/21

Cities across Iran have been cloaked in thick layers of toxic smog and darkened by blackouts, as the alleged use of low-quality fuel and power-sucking cryptocurrency mining deepen the country's hardships. Tehran's Hamshahri newspaper, the country's most-read daily, ran the headline, "20 Days Living in Smoke," on Wednesday over a photo of the capital covered in smog. -Golnar Motevalli and Arsalan Shahla, Bloomberg 1/13/21

Despite a coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 56,000 Iranians, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has banned Western coronavirus vaccines, claiming they're untrustworthy. "The import of American and British vaccines is banned," Khamenei said on January 8. The surprise announcement was met with anger by Iranians who have in past weeks called on their government to purchase safe vaccines as soon as possible. -Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE 1/13/21

Iran plans to import some two million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from India, China, and Russia by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20). "The Iranian-made vaccine is more reliable than many foreign-made vaccines, but it takes a long time to be approved. So, the health ministry plans to import some two million doses of vaccines from India, China, and Russia by the end of the year," IRNA quoted Mohammad-Reza Zafarghandi, head of the Iranian Medical Council, as saying on Monday. 1/11/21

After studying how U.S. sanctions have wreaked havoc on the Iranian people and working with diplomats in Europe, rather unsuccessfully, to lessen the damage, I can attest to the fact that Iran's public health emergency began long before the pandemic. It is no secret, as international media has been riddled with horrific stories about cancer patients and others in Iran dying preventable deaths over the last few years because the healthcare system has been strangled by onerous U.S. sanctions. -Sahil Shah, Responsible Statecraft 1/11/21

A Cuban state-run research institute says it has signed a deal with Iran's Pasteur Institute to test the Caribbean state's most advanced COVID-19 vaccine candidate in Iran. The Finlay Vaccine Institute's (IFV) January 9 announcement came one day after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei banned any import of U.S.- or U.K.-produced vaccines, which he called "untrustworthy," to stop the coronavirus. 1/11/21

Iran, the country worst hit by the pandemic in the Middle East, has reported more than 1.2 million COVID-19 cases, with nearly 56,000 deaths. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has announced a ban on imports of U.S. and British coronavirus vaccines, saying he does not "trust" the two countries. 1/8/21

Iran has reported its first case of a highly contagious coronavirus variant that emerged in the United Kingdom. The case was an Iranian arriving back to the country from the UK, Health Minister Saeed Namaki said on Tuesday. -Al Jazeera 1/6/21

A performance called "A Season for Coronavirus" has been put on in the most crowded streets of Ahvaz city for several nights. After Ahvaz, the performance will be put on in the streets of Kish Island and Tehran. -Alireza Mohammadi, ISNA 12/30/20

Phase I of the human trial test of Iran-made COVID-19 vaccine kicked off on Tuesday in Tehran. The first injection of the 1st phase of COVID19 vaccine human trial produced by Imam Khomeini's Order Executive Office was done during a ceremony held in the presence of Vice-President for Science and Technology Affairs Sorena Sattari and Health Minister Saeed Namaki. -IRNA 12/30/20

The first study of the safety and effectiveness of a coronavirus vaccine in Iran began Tuesday, state TV reported, with dozens due to receive the domestically developed shot even as details about its production remained slim. -AP 12/29/20

Puzzled by their government's reluctance to purchase coronavirus vaccines, Iranians launched campaigns for their "basic right to live" at a moment when the pandemic is raging and neighboring countries have started vaccinating their citizens. -Al Monitor 12/29/20

Iran's Red Crescent Society (IRCS) said it is planning to take delivery of a batch of 150,000 coronavirus vaccines produced by Pfizer Inc. Karim Hemmati, the head of IRCS, told IRNA on Monday that the Pfizer vaccines have been donated by a charity group of Iranian people living abroad. 12/28/20

Some 121 more Iranians have died from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) over the past 24 hours bringing the total deaths to 54,814, Iran's Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said on Monday. Sima Sadat Lari said that with the 121 new victims, the country's total COVID-19 deaths mounted to 54,814. 12/28/20

Iran is extending a night-time traffic curfew to 330 lower-risk cities and towns in an effort to sustain a recent decline in the number of new coronavirus infections and deaths, state television reported on Saturday. The Health Ministry said 134 people had died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, the lowest since Sept. 13, taking total deaths to 54,574 in the Middle East's worst-affected country. -Reuters 12/27/20

Amid the launch of mass COVID-19 vaccination drives in the West, there's growing concern among Iranians that they could be left behind. They fear U.S. sanctions and what some regard as the Iranian clerical establishment's failure to prioritize the well-being of its citizens. -Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE 12/24/20

In February 2020 some countries were already fighting COVID-19, and after China Iran emerged as one of the first COVID-19 epidemic countries, quickly surpassing infection rate of other countries at that time. Operating in a vastly different context than China or Italy, health officials had to think and work quickly to design early detection methods, communication strategies, and lockdown policies. -World Health Organization 12/24/20

Deep in the lush valleys of northern Iran, where the Alborz Mountains crumble toward the sea, Ali Rahimi takes up his grisly work. Day in and day out, Rahimi, a 53-year-old volunteer cleric in the city of Ghaemshahr, puts on his hazmat suit and receives the deceased; disinfecting, washing and shrouding the dead bodies in white cloth. -Ebrahim Noroozi, AP 12/23/20

A coalition of major human rights and humanitarian organizations released a statement today, calling on the US government to ensure that Iranians would have access to "safe, effective, and affordable Covid-19 vaccines." It noted that US sanctions on financial transactions with Iran "appear to be already impeding the transfer of funds to the Covax Facility, the effort of the World Health Organization and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance to manage global vaccine distribution." 12/23/20

The hashtag "There is no insulin" trended across Iran and beyond on Twitter in mid-October. Although the Iranian government said that more insulin would be available to be distributed, shortages still occurred at least through early December, and no long-term solutions have surfaced. -CIDRAP 12/23/20

On the occasion of National Nurses Day, special ceremonies were held throughout the country on Sunday. Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, Iranian nurses have been playing a key role in fighting the disease. According to health officials, some 65 percent of 200,000 nurses in the country were at the forefront of the coronavirus fight. Over the last 10 months, about 50,000 nurses have been infected with COVID-19, more than 80 of whom lost their lives. 12/21/20

Tens of millions are reeling under an unholy trinity of pandemic, US sanctions, and government misrule. There are indications that Iran could be among the worst-affected countries in the world by the coronavirus pandemic and its associated problems. -Ahmad Jalalpour, Nation 12/21/20

Although Iran faces crushing U.S. sanctions, there are still ways for Tehran to obtain coronavirus vaccines as the country suffers the Mideast's worst outbreak of the pandemic. After earlier downplaying the virus, Iran has since acknowledged the scope of the disaster it faces after 1.1 million reported cases and over 52,000 deaths. Getting vaccines into the arms of its people would be a major step in stemming the crisis. -AP 12/21/20

At the start, Iranian officials downplayed COVID-19 - denying the mounting toll of infections, refusing to close mosques, making half-hearted gestures at locking down businesses. That was then. This is now: Even Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has worn disposable gloves while planting a tree for state media, and he prayed in an empty mosque to mark the holy Shiite commemoration of Ashoura. -Jon Gambrell, AP 12/16/20

Iran is currently fighting on two fronts: against the COVID-19 epidemic, which has resulted in the highest death toll in the Middle East, and against economic sanctions that have deprived it of an estimated $150 billion since the Trump administration withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May 2018. -Saumaun Heiat, Atlantic Council 12/16/20

The US financial and trade blockade of Iran, which has strangled its economy, has also taken a heavy toll on the country's coronavirus response. Nick Paton Walsh, Jo Shelley, Ramin Mostaghim and Scott McWhinnie at CNN did a great story on this heartrending travesty. -Juan Cole, Common Dreams 12/14/20

Retired teacher Khalif Farahani struggles to speak, but his emotions pierce the breathlessness of the virus's impact on his lungs. "Sanctions, it is cruelty (from) America", he said. He caught the virus on a park excursion, he added, but even in this condition is "better than before." -CNN 12/10/20

The Iranian Health Ministry has confirmed 10,223 COVID-19 infections and 295 deaths due to the respiratory disease in the past 24 hours. Health Ministry Spokesperson Sima Lari made the announcement on Wednesday, saying that the total coronavirus cases in the country have so far reached 1,072,620 with the death toll standing at 51,620. 12/9/20

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday that U.S. sanctions are making it difficult for Iran to purchase medicine and health supplies from abroad, including COVID-19 vaccines needed to contain the worst outbreak in the Middle East. President Donald Trump's administration has imposed crippling sanctions on Iran's banking sector and its vital oil and gas industry since unilaterally withdrawing the U.S. from Iran's nuclear deal with world powers in 2018. -AP 12/9/20

The head of Iran's central bank on Monday accused the U.S. government of actively blocking the country from purchasing stocks of coronavirus vaccine through the World Health Organization's COVAX program. Abdolnasser Hemmati said on Instagram that it should be "recorded in historical memory" that crippling U.S.-led sanctions against the Islamic Republic are preventing the country from buying vaccines against the potentially deadly virus through COVAX, the WHO-led global initiative to fast-track development, production, and equitable worldwide distribution of a coronavirus vaccine. -Common Dreams 12/8/20

The United States is actively trying to prevent Iran's efforts to buy a COVID-19 vaccine through COVAX, a global initiative undertaken by the World Health Organization, according to the chief of Iran's central bank. Abdolnasser Hemmati on Monday said it must be "recorded in historical memory" that Iranian efforts to buy a vaccine through COVAX have been hampered due to money transfer issues arising due to the sanctions imposed by the US against Iran. -Al Jazeera 12/7/20

The Iranian Health Ministry has confirmed 13,341 COVID-19 infections and 347 deaths due to the disease in the past 24 hours. Health Ministry Spokesperson Sima Lari made the announcement on Friday, saying that 13,341 new cases have been confirmed in the past 24 hours, putting the country's total infections at 1,016,835. 12/4/20

Health Minister Saeed Namaki has said that the situation of coronavirus containment in the country is better than expected contrary to forecasts, and fortunately, new cases and deaths are declining. The coronavirus control in the country, especially in the cities where restrictions were imposed, is improving, Namaki noted. 11/30/20

Iran on Friday announced that all government offices will effectively close and operate with only essential staff, further tightening coronavirus measures as the country struggles to contain its most widespread wave of infection yet. The report did not specify how long the closures would last, but asked Iranians to postpone any planned visits to government offices. -AP 11/27/20

According to the latest announced figures by the Iranian Health Ministry, 13,843 new COVID-19 infections have been confirmed in the past 24 hours, while 469 have lost lives. Speaking in her daily briefing, the Ministry's spokesperson Sima Lari said that the death toll of the official death toll of the disease stands at 46,207 with the daily deaths reaching 469 on Wednesday. 11/25/20

Iran's permanent representative to Vienna-based international organizations has expressed concern about the effects of unilateral sanctions on developing countries' fight against the coronavirus outbreak, underlining the need for a coordinated global response to the pandemic. Kazem Gharibabadi made the remarks in an address to the 48th Session of the UNIDO Industrial Development Board, which was held virtually on Monday. -Press TV 11/24/20

Some 453 more Iranians died of coronavirus over the past 24 hours and 610,406 people out of a total of 866,821 infected with the coronavirus have survived and recovered, according to Health Ministry. Health Ministry Spokesperson Sima Lari made the announcement on Monday, saying that 12,460 new infected cases have been detected since yesterday, increasing the total number of infections in Iran to 866,821. 11/23/20

As daily infections and deaths from Coronavirus are setting new records in Iran, the government has finally made the hard decision; Tehran and 150 other high-risk cities will go into a full lockdown. As per the new measures, travel to and from 150 red-alert cities will be banned for two weeks and a night curfew on movements will keep streets empty from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. -Press TV 11/20/20

Chairman of the Coronavirus Combat Headquarter said that Iran is among the top five countries in the world in the production of COVID-19 rapid detection kit. Alireza Zali made the announcement on Tuesday in the inauguration ceremony of the production line of the COVID-19 rapid test kit in Tehran. 11/19/20

One of the medications used in Iran's medical centers for the treatment of coronavirus is Remdesivir. Iranian pharmaceutical companies have begun making this medical drug to provide it for coronavirus patients. These photographs were taken from Iran's Sobhan Oncology Pharmaceutical Company in which Remdesivir is manufactured. -Moein Azari, ISNA 11/17/20

Iran on Monday reported a record 13,053 new coronavirus infections and 486 deaths over the past 24 hours as the government planned tougher restrictions to curb the pandemic in the Middle East's worst-affected country. Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari told state TV that the total number of infected cases had reached 775,121, while total fatalities had increased to 41,979. 11/16/20

Iran, battling a third wave of the coronavirus, is considering imposing a two-week total lockdown in the capital, state media reported, as its death toll from the disease rose by 461 to 40,582 on Friday. Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari told state TV that Iran, the Middle East country worst hit by Covid-19, had identified 11,737 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the total number to 738,322. -Reuters 11/13/20

Iran on Thursday passed the grim milestone of 40,000 coronavirus deaths, with the latest 10,000 added in less than a month, as the country struggles to contain its most widespread wave of infection yet. The Iranian health ministry announced 457 new fatalities on Thursday, along with 117,517 new infections, pushing the total case count past 726,000, although officials have warned that's a significant undercount. -AP 11/12/20

Iran's national task force for fighting the coronavirus has imposed a new nightly shutdown of businesses in Tehran from 6 p.m. to contain the spread of the third wave of the coronavirus in the city. -ISNA 11/11/20

A new nightly curfew for business in Tehran to slow the spread of Covid-19 is unlikely to be sufficient as daily new infections in Iran topped 10,000 for the second day in a row, experts warned. On Tuesday, the Iranian ministry of health revealed 10,339 new infections in the previous 24 hours, with the number of new deaths reaching 453, just six fewer than the record set on Sunday. -Guardian 11/10/20

Iran was to impose a nightly curfew on Tuesday on businesses in Tehran and other big cities and towns while Lebanon was preparing for a two-week nationwide lockdown later this week as both countries battle a major surge in coronavirus infections. Restaurants and nonessential businesses in Tehran and 30 other cities were ordered to close at 6 p.m. for one month, to keep hospitals from becoming overwhelmed and to slow the worsening outbreak, which has killed more than 39,000. -AP 11/10/20